Chicago alderman slams mayor's hiring practices as 'giant leap in the wrong direction' amid DOJ probe

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4 days ago

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By Adam Sabes
Published May 29, 2025
A Chicago alderman says the city is taking a "giant leap in the wrong direction" after the Department of Justice announced it is investigating Mayor Brandon Johnson's hiring practices.
During a May 18 service at the Apostolic Church of God, Johnson responded to people who claimed he only talked about hiring Black people.
"No, what I'm saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet," he said. "I'm laying that out because when you ask, 'How do we ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business,' having people in my administration that will look out for the interests of everyone, and everyone means you have to look out for the interests of Black folks."
Johnson mentioned top officials who serve in his administration and emphasized their race. One example included his deputy mayor of business and economic development, a Black woman.
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After his remarks, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, notified Johnson his administration is being investigated to see if it utilizes discriminatory hiring practices. Read the letter here
"Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above. If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions," Dhillon said.
Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez told Fox News Digital he's glad the DOJ is looking into the Johnson administration's hiring practices, saying he thinks many Chicagoans have the same concern.
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"I am glad that they are looking into it. I think it validates the concerns that many Chicagoans have had that Brandon Johnson is a mayor, not for the entire city, but for only one demographic," Lopez said. "There are tens of thousands of individuals who work for the city of Chicago who feel as though they have been left out of promotions, left out of advancement or even left out from being hired as a whole even on the front line. And I think that needs to be looked into by the Department of Justice."
Lopez said he thinks the city is taking steps in the wrong direction in the way it hires.
"This is just one sad step backwards for the City of Chicago to have the mayor articulate so passionately that he prefers to hire one ethnic demographic at the expense of all others. It doesn't make sense to me how, in the 21st century, we've done so much to try to move beyond seeing each other just solely based on race, that we are now taking a giant leap in the wrong direction," he said.
The alderman said there are Black Chicago residents he talks to who disagree with Johnson when it comes to hiring decisions.
"Let me be 100%, 110% clear on this note. There are African Americans who don't like that statement either. There are many well-qualified leaders of departments who put blood, sweat and tears into lifting up Chicago, who now have been trivialized by his comments and are viewed through a lens of they're just here because they're Black," Lopez added.
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In comments made after the DOJ launched its investigation, Johnson said it came from a place of fear.
"You can tell when someone is fearful is because they act out," Johnson said. "We have a president that is screaming and having tantrums right now because we have an administration that reflects the city of Chicago, but he would much rather have administrations that reflect the country club. Period."
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson for comment.
Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report. Print Close
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